The Cuba Conference

Cuba Conference is an educational project of the Radical Philosophy Association. It offers a research trip to Cuba eachJune for scholars and students. Click here forthe call and application for this year. RESEARCH NETWORK IN CUBA is a two-weekprogram of research and study. Each participant will have a research project to pursue. In addition, there will be group educational activities designed to broaden and conceptualize our understanding of Cubansociety. We visit neighborhoods, organizations and institutions and we bringin evening speakers to talk with. Since in order to understand where Cuban thinkers are coming from, we need to know their intellectual traditions, the Institute of Philosophy conducts a day-long Seminar on the History of Cuban Thought forus. Since Cuban culture has been formed not only from the Spanish but also theAfrican origins of its people, we offer an introduction to African Derived Traditions in Cuba. Since Cuba has a very participatory political culture, we will join in a Dialog on Civil Society with Cuban thinkers and activists. Since Cubais much more than the capitol city of Havana, we give you the option of extending your stay by traveling to another part of the island for a few days. Thereis so much to learn about this fascinating country that many who have come onour prior trips, return again and again.

During our stay in Havana you are also invited to participate in the Conference of North American and Cuban Philosophers and Social Scientists, a five-day event held at the University of Havana. An annual event, this conference has brought together as many as 95 persons from theU.S. (as well as a few from other countries) with up to 140 Cubans to dialogon a great variety of topics of mutual interest. This is our way of bridging thegap between thinkers in our two countries created by over 40 years of the U.S.imposed blockade.

During our two weeks in Havana we stay at Hotel Vedado located just a few blocks from the University campus in the heart of “downtown” Havana. It is a comfortable, moderately priced, air-conditioned hotel with a restaurant and a swimming pool. You can eat both breakfast and dinner there (MAP) or breakfast only (CP). There are a number of excellent paladars where you can also go for dinner. These are small private restaurants located in homes where you can get a good meal for U.S. dollars.

People often ask, “How do I get to Cuba?” I usually tell then to go down to Miami and then turn left. Seriously though,there are a number of routes available. Most of our delegation members find that the cheapest and quickest route is through Nassau in The Bahamas. There are daily Cubana flights to Havana for $255 round trip and they connect well with incoming and outgoing flights to many parts of the U.S. There are also daily charterflights from Miami for $329, but you usually end up having to stay overnighttherebecause of poor connections. It is also possible to go to Cuba through Mexico and several points in the Caribbean.You are free to travel the route that is most economical for you. But since Nassau is best for most of us, that is the gateway cityfor our trip. You can get detailed travel information and find your best routeby contacting our U.S. based travel agent, Marazul Charters. If you are traveling from Canada, there are frequent flights from Toronto and Montreal. For information on those, contact our Canadian travel agent, Vacation-Culture in Cuba. We encourage you to use one of the above travel agents since the price they give you (which might be a little higher than other agents will quote you) includes the full program of activities for our trip. If you make your travel arrangements with others, you will find extra charges once you get to Havana.

Besides a ticket and a hotel reservation,you will need a license and a visa (and, of course, a current passport).